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DATE: June 16, 2017 12:23:19 PM GMT-0400

Fort Lee will continue to accept Virginia, other state IDs from visitors

FORT LEE, Va. – Visitors may continue using driver’s licenses issued by Virginia and several other states when accessing Fort Lee, thanks to REAL ID Act enforcement extensions granted Thursday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The 2005 law set minimum security standards for state-issued identification used for certain purposes – including visits to military installations – and prohibits federal agencies from accepting non-compliant identification cards for access.

The law does not impact military personnel and others who possess appropriate federal identification for accessing military installations or other secure federal facilities.

Twenty-six U.S. states and territories are fully compliant with the REAL ID Act. The new extensions add Alaska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Maine, Montana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington to a list of 27 total U.S. states and territories working toward compliance under extensions that expire Oct. 10, unless renewed.

Only state-issued identification from Minnesota and Missouri is currently not accepted from visitors to military installations, due to non-compliance. However, they may be joined by Oregon if the state is not granted an extension by July 10, when a DHS-authorized grace period expires.

Regardless of their compliance status, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington all offer optional enhanced driver’s licenses that are considered superior to the act’s requirements and may be used for visitor access to Fort Lee.

Visitors requesting entry to Fort Lee with non-compliant identification must provide additional proof of identity for access, such as a U.S. passport, Social Security card or birth certificate, among others.

Fort Lee visitors are encouraged to review detailed information on obtaining post access, including a list of acceptable identification documents, in advance at www.lee.army.mil/access.

Information about the REAL ID Act and up-to-date compliance statuses for U.S. states and territories are available at www.dhs.gov/real-id.

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Fort Lee Soldiers, families and civilian employees began a century of support to the nation in 1917 when Camp Lee was established to train the 80th Division for service during WWI. Today, Fort Lee is the Army’s Home of Sustainment and supports the training, education and development of adaptive Army professionals in fields such as transportation, supply, culinary arts and equipment repair and maintenance. Major organizations on the installation include the Defense Commissary Agency, Defense Contract Management Agency, Combined Arms Support Command, the Army Logistics University, U.S. Army Ordnance School, U.S. Army Quartermaster School and U.S. Army Transportation School. Fort Lee supports nearly 86,000 Soldiers, retirees, veterans, family members and civilian employees and boasts an economic impact of about $2.4 billion per year.